A Gardener for Humanity

By Camilla Nichols

People, like plants, have some essential needs that must be met in order to grow and thrive. People, like plants, can suffer damage at different stages of growth. A gardener knows how to tend to plants and provide the plant with what is needed to repair the damage. A gardener for humanity tends to people. Our words and deeds have an impact on others. They should encourage and support others, not harm them. People underestimate the power of a smile or a kind word. The world is in need of more kindness and compassion and less judgment and fear. Acts of gardeners for humanity are unique to each, for each of us has unique gifts that we can share with others. A Gardener for Humanity explores how we all, at times, need to be tended and how we can help tend ourselves and others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984522788

Book preview

A Gardener for Humanity

Camilla Nichols

Copyright © 2018 by Camilla Nichols.

Library of Congress Control Number:                2018904937

ISBN:                    Hardcover                             978-1-9845-2280-1

                              Softcover                               978-1-9845-2279-5

                              eBook                                    978-1-9845-2278-8 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/01/2018

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Dedication

To my dear friend Jan, who was the first person to not only physically, but symbolically, be a Gardener for me.

To all those friends and strangers, who in those random and simple moments – through words, smiles, or deeds, were Gardeners for me.

May we all allow ourselves to be tended in however it comes our way and may we all be Gardeners in our own unique ways, of ourselves and of all of Humanity.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1 - What is a Gardener for Humanity?

Chapter 2 - The Basic Tools of a Gardener for Humanity

Chapter 3 - Seeds – A Most Humble Beginning

Chapter 4 - Roots

Chapter 5 - Stems

Chapter 6 - Seasons

Chapter 7 - Every Human Being has Needs which Need to be Met

Chapter 8 - Musings and Ramblings

Chapter 9 - Conclusion

Introduction

Throughout my life I have had periods when perfect strangers share their intimate stories with me. In these times, the stories seem to come at me from everyone with whom I cross paths. I have tried to explain this phenomenon to a few friends but it is such an incredible and profound experience it is difficult to describe, much less hard to believe. I can never quite clearly articulate the stripping of the veil, if you will, the vulnerability shared, the secret, intimate stories I am sure have never been uttered outloud – especially to a complete stranger. When these periods occur, it happens all day long, for days and weeks at a time – from the moment I step outside: the mailman, the person in line at the bank, the bank teller, the airplane passenger, the dad at the football game, a colleague at a business conference, the cashier at the grocery store, the person in line at the grocery store and so on. The stories simply come.

So, in one of my extended story tumbling periods I was on a plane. I had been hearing strangers’ stories for eight days. I was beginning to feel a tad overwhelmed. I was determined to snag a pillow and have myself a good nap. Silly me. No nap. Sure enough, I got a three-hour story, a powerful story. It was the first time this man had shared this story in his life and acknowledged the emotional burden he carried every day because of it. It was a classic story of not being good enough for his father regardless of his success or how hard he tried; and about a woman he loved and married who ultimately used him for his money and did not love him. It was about the pain and self-doubt caused by decades of trying to be enough for these people, and despite his best efforts, always falling short of their expectations. He was a good man but did not feel that way. He had been subjected to too much criticism and rejection by those who supposedly loved him. He felt stuck and stunted. He believed he would never be good enough. He was getting tired of trying. It was a classic story.

When I use the term classic I mean there are patterns, or archetypal patterns, if you will, to these stories. So many people are wounded by parents, family members, friends, co-workers or partners, etc. Somewhere something was said to them or done to them that caused them to carry self-doubt, destroy their self-esteem, or make them believe they are somehow inferior, powerless or not good enough. I am always amazed how people sometimes just need to have someone listen to them; not just listen actually, but to hear them; to take it all in, not interrupt, not judge – just listen and hear.

I believe, from my personal experience, the telling-out-loud helps put in perspective, perhaps for the first time, the wrongful act of another that caused the damage to one’s self. It can help put into perspective that the other was not acting with your best interest in mind; rather, for whatever misguided reason, they judged you and criticized you rather than love you as they should. Perhaps for the first time you begin to think that maybe, just maybe, you are a good and decent person, despite what the other has said or done to you. It is a monumental moment of awareness when one realizes that they willingly allowed themselves to be a pawn in a game they did not chose. Perhaps for the first time they can see that the perceived or actual damage caused, or the extent of it, was not warranted. Perhaps it allows one to realize that they chose to allow that other to have power over them; and they can just as easily choose not to allow the words or actions to impact them any longer. Maybe it just lets off a little steam.

I will never know for certain as I normally do not see these people again. But usually they will say something at the end of our exchange even if it’s simply: I can’t believe I told you that story – I’ve never told that to anyone. I recall one powerful comment at a business event after a man had shared his story